People of Gotham
by Decepticon-silverstreak
Summary: We are the weak. We are the strong. The angry, the scared. But we are not all survivors.
1. Chapter 1

_I'm just a step away_

_I'm just a breath away_

_Losin' my faith today_

_(Fallin' off the edge today)_

~Hero by Skillet

It's so cold. Freezing.

I've never been this cold before. But I didn't have a choice. Ben said we couldn't stay in the same place, and that the roof tops were safe. My hands are angry red, turning purple at the finger tips. I lost my gloves, when we were running away from these angry men with guns.

I was so _scared_. We didn't even do anything, just standing in line to get food supplies and they came out of nowhere, shooting at random people. The masked man said that they wouldn't do that, that we could get food safely. Those men looked like they belonged in Blackgate.

Ben went off to go find supplies with Lennny. They said they would be back when the sun touches the ruins of New Trigate Bridge. We're on the west side on Gotham. You can see in Pettsburg distance, across the frozen River Liberty. The rail system has been shut down for a while now. Probably a bunch of people doing the same thing there like we are.

Endsbury Park was quiet. It's startin' to snow, and I know you can't fall asleep in it.

I hear a scream.

A younger man's scream and I don't even glance at the direction my brother left, tears silently sliding down my face. I was already dead inside.

Wouldn't be too much longer till my heart stops beating too.

_Bang Bang_

* * *

Another gunshot had me moving quicker, Lenny trailing behind me. Things have gotten worse over in Uptown. I knew we should have stayed in Midtown. This too dangerous for Kylie. Hell it's fucking dangerous for anyone!

There shouldn't be some fucking psycho in charge of an entire city. Where's the damn military huh! So much for helping your country!

"Ben! Get down. It's the mercs."

_Shit._

I carefully crouches behind a large dumpster, and I flatten myself against the wall. This was going to end really fucking bad if both of us if we didn't get out of here, away from Bane's mercenaries.

A bitter taste is left in my mouth from the terrorist's name and I hate it.

Everything is silent but the quiet talk of the mercenaries, and the crunch of their boots against the snow.

_Chink_

I feel my body go cold, frozen, the bottle still rolling away from my foot and I stare at it in disbelief. The footsteps stop briefly, and a murmur goes through the men and I've never been so terrified. I can feel my chest pulling in on itself, hands shaking, even breathing seems too loud.

"Ben?"

Lenny speaks extremely quietly, and he moves to get up and he looks over the dumpster, and says the coast is clear. We start to walk out of the alley way when a loud bang goes off and a cloud of red sprays out of Lenny and before I can react another bang goes off and I'm falling onto the cold ground, snow surrounding me, the pain so sudden.

I looks up and there's a face above me, and he's rugged, with a red scarf around his neck, dressed in a military gear. I gurgle on blood, a metallic taste filling my mouth and god everything just fucking hurts, and my vision starts to fade, with Kylie in the front of my mind.

_I'm so sorry Kylie._


	2. Chapter 2

_I am just a man  
Not superhuman  
(I'm not superhuman)  
Someone save me from the hate  
_~Hero by Skillet

It was now dark, and I was shaking badly from the freezing temperatures. It was sometime in the middle of November and I don't know how I'm going to make it through the horrible winter if it continues like this. The gravel crunches underneath my feet, screaming as my boots stomp down onto them. The night was quiet, a strange thing I have never heard in my entire life.

When I used to go to sleep at night, the noise from the street below always lulled me in to sleep, like a twisted, calming lullaby. In class when we had to take tests, outside Gotham was bustling with noise as she sent her people to and fro around the city with their menial tasks. Simply taking a peaceful stroll through the park had its noises. She was a loud city, now she couldn't sing her lullaby to the dead and the terrified.

Gotham was never meant to be silenced.

Snow has started to fall, and I can no longer feel my legs or arms. Everything is starting to go numb except my chest, and I can feel its frantic attempts to save itself.

_It hurts to breathe._

My brain thinks, and my vision is going blurry, grey tainting the edges like spilled paint. I try to move my hands but all I get in response is a sharp ache that shoots up my arms.

_I guess this is it. Batman is dead, and Gotham's gone to hell._

I start to think of Ben. Dad and Christina. The last people in the world who I cared about. Who I made some of the most special memories with, that'll forever stay with me, to remind me that the entire world isn't like this. God, so much for happily ever after.

_Oh god Ben._

I feel dead almost, in a indescribable way that only can be shown through tears and screaming; a feeling that tightens your chest in a way it almost hurts. My throat tightens and I blink away bitter tears that try to escape and look up at the night sky. Snow is falling harder from earlier, the large flurries starting to dust me with a thin layer. I notice something that's new in Gotham.

The stars. I can actually see the stars.

I gave a short, breathless laugh. Amazement filling me. It's practically the freakin' apocalypse, and the one thing that catches my attention are burning balls of gas. I'm glad to know where my mind is set to. I smile, watching the twinkling stars that danced above me in their own world, and the full impact of sleep depravation is starting to fully kick in. As my eye sight starts to blur, body finally gone numb and blissfully painless, red fills my visions and it fades into black nothingness.

_My name is Kylie Winser; no special middle name and I am a survivor._


End file.
